The Godfather is a 1972
American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S.
Ruddy from a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Starring Marlon Brando and
Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, the story spans
the years 1945-55, concentrating on the transformation of Michael Corleone from
reluctant family outsider to ruthless Mafia boss while chronicling the
Corleones under the patriarch Vito.
Based on Puzo's best-selling
novel of the same name, The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest
films in world cinema—and as one of the most influential, especially in the
gangster genre. Ranked second to Citizen Kane by the American Film Institute in
2007, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry in 1990. It is #21 in the Sight & Sound poll.
The film was for a time the
highest grossing picture ever made, and remains the box office leader for 1972.
It won three Oscars for that year: Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and in the
category Best Adapted Screenplay for Puzo and Coppola. Its nominations in seven
other categories included Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall for Best
Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. The success spawned two
sequels: The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The Godfather Part III in 1990.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by Albert S. Ruddy
Screenplay by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Based on The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton
Music by Nino Rota
Cinematography Gordon Willis
Edited by William Reynolds, Peter Zinner
Release dates March 15, 1972 (New York City)
March 24, 1972 (United
States)
Running time 175 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $6–7 million
Box office $245.1–286 million
Plot
On the occasion of his
daughter Connie's wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the
Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest son, Michael,
wearing a Marine Corps uniform, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, to his
family at the reception. Johnny Fontane, a famous singer and godson to Vito,
seeks his help in securing a movie role; Vito dispatches his consigliere, Tom
Hagen, to Los Angeles to talk the abrasive studio head, Jack Woltz into giving
Johnny the part. Woltz is unmoved until he wakes up in bed with the severed
head of his prized stallion.
Shortly before Christmas 1945, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Tattaglia crime family, asks Don Corleone for both investment in his narcotics business and protection through his political connections. Wary of involvement in a dangerous new trade that risks alienating political insiders, Vito declines. Suspicious, he sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. Solozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen. With Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade him to accept Sollozzo's deal, then released. Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father; Michael's jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzo's bodyguard. Sonny retaliates with a hit on Tattaglia's son. The family receives two fish wrapped in Brasi's bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca "sleeps with the fishes." Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant and, retrieving a planted handgun, kills both men.
Despite a clampdown by the
authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vito's sons fear for
their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is
sheltered by the Corleone's Las Vegas casino partner, Moe Greene. Sonny attacks
his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to
kill him if it happens again. When it does, Sonny speeds for their home but is
ambushed at a highway toll booth and riddled with sub-machine gun fire. While
in Sicily, Michael meets and marries Apollonia Vitelli, but their euphoria is
shattered when a car bomb intended for him takes her life.
Devastated by Sonny's death,
Vito moves to end the feuds. Realizing that the Tattaglias are controlled by
the now-dominant Don Emilio Barzini, Vito assures the Five Families that he
will withdraw his opposition to their heroin business and forgo avenging his
son's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home and enters the family
business. He and Kay reunite and marry the next year.
With his father at the end
of his career and his brother too weak, Michael takes the reins of the family,
promising his wife the business will be legitimate within five years. To that
end, he insists Hagen relocate to Las Vegas and relinquish his role to Vito
because Tom is not a "wartime consigliere"; the older man agrees Tom
should "have no part in what will happen" in the coming battles with
rival families. When Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in
the family's casinos, their partner derides the Corleones for being run out of
New York; Michael is dismayed to see that Fredo has fallen under Greene's sway.
Vito suffers a fatal heart
attack. At his funeral, Tessio, a Corleone capo, asks Michael to meet with Don
Barzini, signalling the betrayal that Vito had forewarned. The meeting is set
for the same day as the christening of Connie’s baby. While Michael stands at
the altar as the child's godfather, Corleone assassins murder the other New
York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is executed for his treachery; Michael
extracts Carlo’s confession to his complicity in setting up Sonny's murder for
Barzini. After Clemenza garrotes Carlo with a wire, Connie accuses Michael of
the murder, telling Kay that Michael ordered all the killings. Kay is relieved
when Michael finally denies it, but when the capos arrive they address her
husband as Don Corleone.
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